Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris stepped closer to a maiden world title with second place in the Vegas race behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

Norris currently heads teammate Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth after the Mercedes of George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the championship in the Qatar as long as he does not lose more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Verstappen had a strong performance. I made the mistake at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that opening corner," said Norris

"It remains a positive outcome to secure second place. I've got to praise Verstappen and Red Bull"

After Qatar, the final race of the championship takes place in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The key stories of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Norris maintained his momentum towards the title losing the win to Verstappen

• Oscar Piastri's difficult run of form continued as his championship chances wane

• A superb victory for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a difficult qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for tenth place after beginning at the rear

From the beginning, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful move in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking zone and went too deep into the corner

This enabled Verstappen to drive past into the first place while Norris lost second place to George Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when the Racing Bulls Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Verstappen slowly established dominance on the race

George Russell undertook an early pit stop for the hard tyres, but Norris and Max Verstappen remained on track

The McLaren driver stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Verstappen 10

The Red Bull driver was could return still in the first place, Russell having been unable to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tyres to settle, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes driver and overtook into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

Norris asked his race engineer how to manage the remainder of his event, essentially asking whether he should settle for second or attack

He was instructed to "chase down Max" but it quickly became apparent he had little opportunity. Verstappen was readily able to defend against Norris' attacks, and in the closing stages the margin increased substantially as the McLaren began to suffer a technical issue which has thus far remained unidentified

Even with losing nearly three seconds a lap, Norris was able to defend against Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while chasing Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a significant margin, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Max Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will attempt to win the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will know where we end up, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Piastri started in fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap after being hit by Lawson, who was quickly eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Liam Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before overtaking him on the Las Vegas Strip but lost position to Charles Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

Piastri finished after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the entire race on the durable compound following stopping during the first virtual safety car, but was given a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure infringement, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It was a frustrating event from pretty much beginning to end in certain respects," Piastri informed race broadcasters

Asked about how he would tackle the remaining events, he said: "Simply attempt to put myself in the optimal situation I can. I clearly need several of things to go my way at this stage to win, but all I can do is make myself in the best position to capitalise if circumstances change"

Leclerc held on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's penalty, while Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams car lacking the pace to compete with the top teams in the dry, following his heroic performance to start in third in the wet

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a strong getaway, up to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to advance positions

He got stuck in a slipstream group with a group of other cars but was able to use his electric start to salvage a championship point after the worst qualifying session of his career